1080p LCDs outsold 1080p plasmas in the 50-inch to 54-inch market by nearly three to one in October, according to new research from Pacific Media Associates.

The "October Consumer 2007 Flat Panel Display Tracking Service" also found that LCDs made up 80 percent of flat panels sold (26 inches and above), with 30-inch to 34-inch flat panels becoming more popular than 40-inch to 44-inch units.

"Unit sales of 1080p LCD models grew 25 percent in October, and accounted for half of the total revenues for the month," says Rosemary Abowd, VP at Pacific Media.

Street prices were down 30 percent from October 2006, helping sales to more than double from that time.

Samsung lead the flat panel market with 19.6 percent of unit shares, with Sony second at 17.5 percent. Sony, however, topped revenue market shares with 24.3 percent to Samsung's 22 percent.

In the RPTV market, sales were up 27 percent in October over September, tallying the highest unit sales since May 2007.

"Texas Instruments continued to dominate as well; four out of five rear projection models sold in October had DLP imaging chips," says Abowd.

"The average street price for the rear projection models are about $1,500, which is $1,000 less than the 50" to 55" flat panel average street price, yet the flat panels outsell rear projection nearly three to one."

Despite the market gains by RPTVs, sales were still less than half of that in January 2007.

Mitsubishi led the market with 38 percent unit share and a 46 percent revenue share. Samsung's HLT6187S was the best selling model with a 10 percent unit market share.